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Selecting your health and safety partner: A guide to choosing the right level of support
A practical guide for business leaders weighing in-house, ad hoc, retained, and competent person partnership models, with the criteria for choosing a provider that scales with your business.
What's inside this guide
This Opus Safety whitepaper helps business leaders choose the right level of health and safety support, now and as the business grows. It weighs the strengths and limitations of the four most common safety management models and sets out the criteria that separate a true competent person partner from off-the-shelf advice.
- Comparing in-house, ad hoc external, retained advisor, and competent person partnership models
- Recognising when it is time to review or expand your safety support
- Key selection criteria: cultural fit, competence and credibility, flexibility, and partnership approach
- The legal difference between a competent person and competent advice under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- What to expect from a digital compliance platform, occupational health, training, and HR support
- Side-by-side comparison of a competent person partnership versus standard competent advice
Use this guide to weigh the trade-offs of each model and select a provider that protects your people, supports growth, and embeds compliance into your culture.
Health & safety insights
Guidance, updates and practical advice for your sector.
HSE prosecutions: Counting the cost of non-compliance
Two fall from height prosecutions in one week and a £120,000 dust fine. What recent HSE enforcement action means for your controls.
The psychology of safety: When workarounds become the way we work
Two machinery prosecutions show how shortcuts become standard practice. How to build a safety culture where the safe way is the default way.
Planning new or non-routine work: When the job changes, so do the risks
When work changes location, equipment or method, the risks change too. How to spot the triggers for reassessment and plan non-routine work safely.
Opus Safety partners with Lydia Walmsley Racing for the 2026 season
Opus Safety has joined Lydia Walmsley Racing as a partner for the rest of the 2026 Porsche Carwow Sprint Challenge GB season, starting at Knockhill.
Why Was the Health and Safety at Work Act Introduced?
Why was the Health and Safety at Work Act introduced? The disasters, the Robens Report and the duties the HSWA still places on UK employers today.
What Law Regulates Workplace Health and Safety? DSEAR Explained
What law regulates workplace health and safety? A clear guide to the HSWA, DSEAR and whether your business needs a DSEAR risk assessment.
Hot weather health and safety: six essential questions
Six essential questions to keep your team safe in hot weather – heat stress, hydration, PPE, first aid and driving – with practical steps for summer working.
HSE prosecutions: Workplace fatalities and seven-figure fines
Four recent HSE prosecutions – from a £1m refinery gas leak to fatal and life-changing injuries – and the simple controls that would have prevented them.
Maintain momentum with a mid-year health and safety check
Use the mid-year point to take stock of your health and safety: risk assessments, training, PPM and agency staff. A practical checklist to keep momentum through summer.
Why Health and Safety Matters: When to Hire a Consultant
Hire a health and safety consultant when you grow, your team is stretched, risks get complex, or you receive an enforcement notice - whatever your size.
Ready to strengthen your compliance
Book a consultation or request a gap analysis to see where you stand
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